GROW TOGETHER THIS RESOURCE IS FUNDED BY IRISH AID AT THE DEPARTMENT OF FOREIG N AFFAIRS. IRISH AID IS THE GOVERNMENT’S OVERSEAS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME WHICH SUPPORTS PARTNERS WORKING IN SOME OF THE WORLD’S POOREST COUNTRI ES. IRISH AID ALSO SUPPORTS GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP AND DEVELOPMENT EDUCATION IN IRELAND TO ENCOURAGE LEARNING AND PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT WITH GLOBAL ISSUES.
ALL IDEAS, OPINIONS AND COMMENTS THEREIN ARE ENTIRELY THE RESPON SIBILITY OF SCOUTING IRELAND AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT OR REFLECT DFA POLICY.
Scouting Ireland and the SDGs The SDGs help us to focus on what truly matters. Environmental and social crisis are impacting communities all over the world. Getting outside, making friends and taking positive action is a simple way to challenge the unequal global system we live in. When we garden as a community we can foster collective resilience to challenges, improve biodiversity and soil health, reduce our carbon footprint and create inclusive and green spaces in our community. We believe that when we work together, we can make the world a little better than we found it.
Why garden? So why is community gardening important? Although there are many ways community gardening is important improving biodiversity, reducing carbon footprints and improving soil health – all exceptionally important to take care of nature all around it - there are tremendous benefits for communities and even you too! When we garden alone and together, we instantly feel CONNECTION. To ourselves, to others and the world all around us. Our mind focuses, or body relaxes, and our senses are activated by the smells and textures of nature. Repeated exposure to this type of activity relaxes our mind and body, improving our overall mental and physical health overtime. When we garden TOGETHER, this impact is only magnified as we see how much we can achieve when we work together.
First things first; be prepared! We hope this guide can help you make many happy memories – enjoying delicious harvest and sharing food around a table with new friends.
Let's go through a few simple safety tips before you get started. o Wear gloves – protect your hands from cutes, blisters and thorns o Warm up – before digging up the garden, warm up your body with a tea and walk, even better to bring a friend! o Change it up - to avoid aches and pains from repetitive digging, planting, raking, pruning, switch tasks around o Kneel don't bend – bending you back will cause more aches than kneeling. Get something to rest your knees on or even wear knee pads o Lift with your legs – if lifting anything heavy, make sure you engage your legs or ask someone to help you o Wear SPF – even if you think you don't need it, you do! o Masks and protective eye wear - this is important if you suffer from allergies or asthma o Hydration – make sure to stay hydrated with water and fruits. o Check for ticks – ticks love garden edges, so make sure you check your knee/elbow creases and clothes for any ticks that may have joined your gardening o Don't use pesticides – please avoid the use of chemicals in the environment that harm insects and look for natural deterrents
Let the gardening begin! Do this… Do this…
… and this!
Decide where you would like to garden – in a pot, a container, a plot, a derelict site? Do you have a south or north facing window-sill, balcony, patio, site another garden?
Star small - take it one step at a time. Use cardboard to keep weeds at bay from areas of the garden you are not working ont
Discover what soil type will you work with – alkaline, acidic, loam, sandy, silt? Run a simple soil test to find out so you know what type of plants you go grow.
Thin new sprouts to allow space between plants to grow
Plan the layout of what you want to plant - arrange flowers according to height and colour, plant veg that support eachs others growth, manage spacing of seeds per pots
Keep an eye out – check plants for pests like slugs or snails that might wander onto your plants. Simply pick them up and point them in a new direction to wander off to
Water & feed regularly - set up a watering and feeding routine so your plants needs are met
Make compost - simple and cheap way to access soil for planting while reducing food and garden waste
Learn the essential skills to garden well to prepare your garden for success - weeding, mulching, fertilizing, sowing, watering and feeding your plants
Invite community members to come help you garden! Gardening together is a great social activity.
Remember, don’t …
Be afraid of cutting –
Forget to be kind to wildlife–
Isolate –
learn when to prune plants and you'll be rewarding with bigger and better flowers and fruits
learning to share your newly created habitat with bees, birds, spiders and hedgehogs will show how we can all co-exist peacefully
invite the community! Host a harvest night or garden picnic to share and appreciate your efforts with friends
Responsibility to nature Together we can each take positive actions for nature and protect biodiversity by striving towards the principles of Leave No Trace. Here are a few simple ideas to get you started: ◦ Choose pollinator friendly plants to grow ◦ Try to grow your favorite food that you want to eat ◦ Eliminate pesticides ◦ Leave the leaves in autumn in appropriate areas to let insects have somewhere warm to thrive ◦ Let grass and wildflowers grow and make pathways to encourage people to get outside and explore ◦ Create log piles for insects ◦ Create interpretation boards to educate your community on what is around them ◦ Arrange a community harvest day and cooking competition – apple pie, blackberry tarts, gooseberry jam – opportunities are endless! More Information: https://www.leavenotraceireland.org/wpcontent/uploads/2020/01/Leave-No-Trace-Ireland-Biodiversity-Toolkit-forCommunities.pdf
Make the seasons count! January: Plan your garden goals and set your budget, turn your compost and start digging beds (if you feel up to it!), set out your water harvesting containers and butts. February: Sow green-house veg (tomatoes, cucumber etc.), chit potatoes, plant garlic and onions March: Sow root veg, and salad leaves outside and cover in case of frost. Weeding is an on-going task to keep up! April: Plant potatoes into deep drills or containers and remember to water and feed your plants May: This is a perfect time to plant containers, hanging baskets and boarders with any additional plants or pollinator flowers. Remember to weed often! June: First early potatoes can be harvested, along with salad leaves and herbs. Continue to sow and plant root vegetables and salad leaves
July: Temperatures are higher this month so make sure your plants have enough water. Carrots need less water than you think! Deadhead flowers, and water hanging baskets daily. Feed your veg plants with a liquid fertilizer August: Keep up all garden tasks! It's almost time to enjoy the fruits of your labour before Autumn sets in. September: Harvest any and fruits left over and think about how you can preserve them! Now is a great time to plant bulbs for next years Spring veg October: Now is time to prepare for Winter. Plant spring bulbs, bring inside garden furniture and tools, remove fallen leaves from ponds, harvest and preserve and store any remainder vegetables and fruits
November: Root vegetables like parsnips, carrots, beetroot can be kept in the ground and harvested when needed, use prepare food for wild birds, and use frost fleeces to mind plants during the frost December: Harvest the last of your root vegetables, mulch plants and protect against frost. Plan your garden for the year to come!
Community Garden Locations Connect your group with an established community garden! No matter you age, skills or ability there's a job for you at the community garden. This takes out a lot of the work with setting up your own one, plus you can make friends and learn new skills! Have you heard of Citizen Science? This idea means that each of us can identify data in our communities that help us all understand the local effects from global challenges like climate change, invasive alien species and biodiversity loss. Check out Community Gardens Ireland to find your local garden! http://cgireland.org/
Seedlings love small containers! - Beetroot, carrots and onions all love to be transported to containers once they are big enough. Reuse cardboard from toilet rolls and kitchen rolls or plastic from bottles and yoghurt tubs!
Potatoes LOVE containers! (and aren't afraid of the dark)
Recycled boxes
Reuse produce sacks
Strawberries love height and growing down! Old tube with cut-outs for the strawberries to grow out Upcycled birdfeeder into a planter Reused tins with strings for strawberries to hang
Beetroot and Carrots love depth and space to grow down! - find any 12-inch or 14-inches deep container
Creative Containers Put your skills to the test and create cool containers to plant in!
Creating your own containers helps reduce waste....
And saves you money!
Exchange ideas! Have you ever heard of: ◦ Keyhole gardens? ◦ Plastic bottle greenhouses? ◦ Companion planting? ◦ Lasagna gardening? ◦ Permaculture? Start a conversation with your local community garden to find out their practices. They might be interested in working with you and your group on your suggestions!
African Keyhole Gardening Why is this a good idea? Ideal for areas with bad soil quality Accessible for users with different mobility Cheap to construct Integrated way to manage compost
Did you know? The African keyhole garden was designed by CARE in Zimbabwe during the mid 1990s to encourage people to grow their own food. The design relied on materials that were close at hand—such as bricks, stones, branches, hay, ashes, manure and soil—to create an easy-care garden for disabled people. This idea was developed in Lesotho and are well adapted to dry arid lands and deserts. In Africa, they are positioned close to the kitchen and used to raise leafy greens such as lettuce, kale, and spinach; herbs; and root crops such as onions, garlic, carrots, and beets.
Create your own African Keyhole garden!
Inspiration from ancient culture Did you know? Lima, Peru’s desert capital, a city of 12 million people, expects to run out of water by 2025. It already faces a crisis each summer as the supply from the mountains dwindles to a trickle. Yet the quantity of rain in the wet season can be overwhelming. The good news! A group of scientists has found that reviving systems developed 1,400 years ago by local people before the Inca empire existed could harvest water from the winter rainy season in the mountains to ensure Lima’s summer supplies.
A 1,400-year-old Peruvian water-diverting method could supply up to 40,000 Olympic-size swimming pools' worth of water to present-day Lima each year!
Slow Water Movement Slowing down our consumption of water is a great way to be kind to nature. Plus it will be cheaper long-term if you can save and harvest water too!
Find out more here! https://www.bbc.com/future/article/202 10510-perus-urgent-search-for-slowwater
This is an outdoor tunnel called 'Qullqa’. They were constructed across the Inca Empire during 15th Century A.D. It was used for food preservation of dried potatoes and root vegetables, covered with straw and baled
How can you join the slow water movement?
Share your story! Share your gardening story to inspire others to act too! Community and nature are essential for our collective wellbeing. We can only make the world a better place, together.
Scan the QR code to Share your story!